Of Blue Eyes and Mechanical Roses
by WhiteWolf815
Summary: After a fateful encounter with a mysterious girl named Rose Arknight, Mokuba and she become friends despite her not knowing who he really is (or his brother by extension). But that's okay; he knows she has secrets too. Little does he know that it is just the beginning when he finally introduces her to his older brother, Seto Kaiba. (Seto Kaiba x OC)
1. Savior with Eyes of Amethyst

Hello folks and welcome to my new story! Now this is a Seto Kaiba X OC romance fic just so you know (and in case you can't read). However, this may be the first chapter for a while since I'm currently focusing on one of my other stories. I just needed to get this first chapter out because this idea was _begging_ to be unleashed on the world. Still, I promise to try to update every once in a while. I've got big plans for this lovely little idea.

And yes, later there will be some introduction of Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's elements but none of the characters, strictly speaking. So I am not going to make this a crossover, (at least not officially).

On another, more mysterious note…to the more mystery/puzzle-loving readers, I recommend that you watch the chapter titles as you read, especially if you are familiar with YGO cards and their names. You may…find them familiar.

Lastly, before I let you bookworms devour this piece, this takes place sometime after Duelist Kingdom. Now Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything of Yu-Gi-Oh! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Savior with Eyes of Amethyst**

Mokuba was getting picked on. Again. Actually, getting beat up was the more accurate term at the moment. Some of the kids had decided to ambush him on his way home from school again.

Sadly though, this occurrence wasn't much of a surprise to the raven-haired boy. In fact, this wasn't the first time this had happened either. The other kids at school were always picking on him, teasing him for something, whether it be his hair, appearance, intellect, or something or other that they thought they could use to bring him down. Mokuba had, of course, tried to fight back on more than one occasion, returning the other kids' scathing remarks with equal candor. And for a time it had even seemed to work. But then the other kids had decided to start ignoring him, only bothering to pay enough attention to him whenever he spoke just long enough to laugh at him. In a way, that was even worse.

It wasn't until some weeks ago that some of the older students had apparently gotten together and decided to take things further by cornering him one day after school and started pushing him around. And things just began to escalate from there.

Mokuba, hadn't mentioned any of this to his beloved older brother, Seto, though. He didn't necessarily fear what his brother his brother would say. Despite how stoic and uncaring he may have seemed to others, Seto had always been there to care for him ever since their parents had died. Whenever Mokuba got into trouble, Seto was there to protect him. Always. And that is what kept Mokuba from saying anything now. He was tired of being a burden to his brother.

During Duelist Kingdom, when Pegasus had attempted a hostile takeover of KaibaCorp and had captured Mokuba so as to gain control of the company, Seto had been the one who had attempted to rescue him, risking life and limb on multiple occasions. And Mokuba? He could do little but cry and wait for his big brother to rescue him. Again.

So now, Mokuba kept silent about the bullying that occurred to him on an almost daily basis, hiding his bruises and cuts so his brother wouldn't see. Seto wasn't always going to be there to protect him. It was time he grew some backbone and tried to stand up for himself for a change.

Which brings him to his current predicament. Mokuba had tried to stand up for himself as per usual, but…

"What's a matter brat? You gonna cry?" the lead bully, Zacharias, taunted him, leering down at Mokuba.

"Yeah you gonna go crying to your mommy like a little baby?" one of the other two bullies chimed in; the other brute sniggering stupidly.

"Oh wait, I forget, you can't, cuz your mommy is dead," Zach laughed evilly with the other two guffawing beside him before all three resumed kicking and punching him again.

Biting the inside of his lip, Mokuba attempted to keep from crying out. He had to stay strong. If he did or said anything that showed that they were getting to him, these guys would just take it as another sign of weakness, adding to the sick pleasure them and the jeering crowd around them got from his torment. He couldn't give in.

* * *

—Unknown PoV—

Strolling casually along one of the streets of Domino City, Rose Arknight was having an average day at best, which for her was a pretty good day. She had gotten all the grocery shopping done and had managed to find a couple more parts she needed for her current project. She had even managed to do a little cleaning and put a couple more boxes away, which for her was a miracle in itself. Now all she needed to do was...

Raucous shouts and cheering suddenly drew the silvery-haired girl out of her thoughts. Glancing around, tanzanite-colored orbs finally landed on a medium-sized gathering of schoolchildren who seemed to be gathered around something.

 _School must have just let out_ , she mentally surmised, a calculating look entering her eyes as thin brows furrowed lightly. She had briefly taken note of the small school building when she had first moved into the area, but she had never really paid it much mind until now.

Adjusting the position of her blue-jean, newsboy cap a little, she considered the gaggle of students, trying to pick up what it is they were shouting. Maybe it was none of her business, but gut instinct told her that trouble was afoot, and Rose always listened to what her gut was telling her.

Glancing both ways before she made her way across the street, Rose quietly made her way over to see what all the hullabaloo was about, little silver cross earrings swaying with the motion as she walked. What she found when she arrived, however, made her pale pink lips twitch downward in a small frown of displeasure, the small motion only hinting to how displeased and disgusted she really was.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

If the cheering of the crowd didn't make it already apparent that a schoolyard fight was going on, then the three thuggish children in the center of the mob with evil smirks plastered on their faces as they leered down at another younger student, certainly clued her in. And judging by the reluctant look in the younger kids eyes, this fight wasn't completely mutual.

Where were the teachers and parents? Why weren't they doing a damn thing about this? Rose wondered, scanning the area for any signs of a responsible adult. Much to her increasing displeasure, anyone who could have done something was either absent or was completely oblivious as to what was going on. As for the other, older children, who could've at least tried to take responsibility, they were either cheering the bullies on or just standing there watching.

Rose quietly scoffed. _Classic bystander syndrome, in action_.

Seeing as there was no one else around to do a damn thing about it, Rose mentally rolled up her figurative sleeves and began to push her way through the crowd, eliciting many sounds of protest from those she pushed out of her way through. However, upon catching sight of the dangerous look on her face, all of them quickly fell silent until she was finally standing in the center, just behind the three bullies with her arms crossed over her chest.

"That's quite enough."

* * *

—Mokuba's PoV—

Curled up in in a ball with his eyes tightly shut and dirt and grass stains covering his clothes, the raven-haired boy waited for the next strike, knowing that eventually the bullies would get bored and go away soon after. They always did.

However, something unexpected happened. It wasn't obvious at first, and Mokuba thought he was only imagining it when the noise of the jeering crowd died down. But just when he thought he was going to receive another kick, a sharp feminine voice cut through all the noise like a shotgun in a library.

"That's quite enough."

At the tone, all noise in the area fell silent faster than one could say 'silent as the grave'.

Amazingly though, despite the acidic tone of the woman's voice, one of the bullies actually managed to find his voice and say with a faint quaver, "What's it to you, lady? We were just having some fun."

* * *

—Rose's PoV—

Rose did her best to withhold a fierce sneer at the bully's words. 'We were just having some fun'? _Seriously?_ That was his excuse for picking on other kids? It was obviously a lie as she wasn't blind, but this kid actually had the balls to lie to her face?

She shook her head. "Pathetic," she hissed lowly.

"Excuse me?" one of the kids said, obviously the ringleader in all this.

"You heard me," Rose said a little more loudly. "I've seen your kind of fun, and I can tell you: I'm not impressed. You are pathetic," the young woman sneered, causing the three before her to shrink a little. "I mean getting off on another's misery just to feel big and important? How pathetic. You lot are nothing more than a bunch of _common_ , no-good bullies." She made sure to emphasize the 'common' part, conveying how _not-special_ he was.

She lifted her amethyst sights and met the gazes of each and every single child present, intense sugilite causing them all to look away uncomfortably.

"That goes for the rest of you as well," she lectured gesturing at the three bullies as she spoke. There was a dark scowl on her face that dared anyone to contradict her, "-egging these idiots on. You're no better than they are. Absolutely _**pathetic**_."

Shamed silence fell, and the silver-haired girl was pleased to find that most present had guilty expressions on their faces. That is until one brave girl decided to speak up. She had this sort of bossy, know-it-all tone like one of those stereotyped cheerleaders you see on TV. "You're not our mom! You can't tell us what to do."

Several others murmured in quiet agreement.

Inwardly, Rose smirked, feeling a jolt of pleasure run through her, like that was just the question she had been waiting for.

"Oh?" she queried with a raised brow. "Can't I? Well, in that case, you all won't mind if I just walk up those front steps and ask the principal to call all your parents and show them this video I have of all you bullying this kid here then?" she bluffed slyly, waving her phone around. When there was no verbal response, only the draining of blood from the faces of several of those present, she shrugged lightly. "Okay then I'll just go and—"

Before she could even finish, Rose was cut off by several protests, pleading with her to stop.

Pleased with the response, she let her face darken again and snapped out sternly, "If you don't want me to do that then I suggest you scram and don't ever let me catch you picking on another student again."

Before she knew it, all the students had cleared out until it was only her and the curled-up form of the beat-up kid.

Satisfied with the result, Rose mentally patted herself on the back before softly making her way over to the raven-haired kid. Then, crouching before him, she asked in a gentle tone, "Hey there, Champ, are you alright?"

* * *

—Mokuba's PoV—

Listening as his apparent savior gave each and every one of the bullies and spectators a speedy dressing-down with a few well-placed words, Mokuba could not believe his ears. Was this really happening?

So great so was his shock, that Mokuba didn't realize that the crowd had dispersed until a voice above him asked softly, "Hey there, Champ, are you alright?"

Gasping softly, Mokuba jerked his head up to meet the steady gaze of a young, silvery-haired woman, who was crouched before him, looking concerned. She, well in Mokuba's opinion, she kind of looked like an angel despite the whole rag-tag, punk-ish look she was going for. Fair-skinned and face rounded yet slightly pointed with some elfin-like features, she had large, wide-set eyes that were slightly upturned but were a beautifully unusual shade of violet which seemed to swirl and change color as if they had trouble deciding what particular shade or intensity of purple they wanted to be. Her nose was small and somewhat button-shaped but not overly protrudent on her features either, complementing her full, tea rose-colored lips, which were quirked slightly downward in a frown much like her thin brows were doing.

Gazing up at her serious yet concerned face, Mokuba realized that he hadn't answered the young woman's question. However, he found that he didn't need to when she rolled her eyes exasperatedly and said in a dry tone, "Right, sorry. That was a bad question on my part. Let me rephrase: Are you seriously injured at all kiddo? Nothing sprained? Broken or anything like that?"

Bit by bit, Mokuba shook his head, still quietly taking in the young woman's appearance.

From the looks of her, she had to at least be around the same age as his brother, though he could have been wrong since girls were masters at hiding their true age. For all he knew, the way she had tucked most of her white hair up into a blue newsboy-style cap, leaving only a few stay hairs to brush her shoulders and the tip of her nose, could have been a trick to make her look ten years younger than she actually was. However, for some reason, he didn't think that was the case since for the entire time he had been observing her he hadn't noticed a speck of make-up on her features.

Anyways, she wore silver cross-shaped earrings that swayed slightly whenever she tilted her head to the side and a matching necklace around her neck that jingled slightly with all the extra chains it had. And unless you included the black leather cuff around her right wrist and the sliver watch around the other, the girl didn't have much in the way of jewelry as most girls did. In fact, she seemed rather simple in her belted blue jeans, lanky blush pink colored shirt which read 'PRIMROSE' across the front, and black spaghetti-strap undershirt that peeked out from underneath with its laced trim top edges. So maybe she was more of a tomboy angel.

In any case, at his response, the girl seemed to be satisfied. "Can you stand?" she asked, a calculating look entering her eyes much like whenever Seto got to planning something.

"Yeah, I think so," he finally spoke, voice shaky and quiet, unsure of where she was going with this.

The corners of her lips turned upward ever so slightly, and Mokuba took note of how the expression really lit up her features. He got the impression that she didn't nearly smile as often as she should, kinda like Seto in a way. "That's good. Otherwise I really would have had to film those guys bullying someone in the act."

Blinking a couple times as he took in what she said, he belatedly realized with a glance at her pocketed phone that she had been bluffing about the video.

"Anyways," she said with a sigh, "Whaddya say I help you over to that bench over there and check you over? It's better than sitting on the grass all day."

Numbly, he nodded, standing up slowly and wobbling a little on his unsteady feet. He was about to grab his fallen bag when the girl beat him to it and snatched it up, shooting him a slightly teasing look. Pouting a little, Mokuba nonetheless made his slow way over to the beat up school bench that the young woman had gestured to. Sitting down, he watched as she deftly set his bag down next to him before carefully looking him over. She was quite gentle, so he barely felt when her fingers just barely brushed the already bruised areas of his body, some of which were more recent than others.

"Looks like you took quite a beating there, Champ," she stated dryly, either choosing to ignore how there were layers of bully-related bruising all over his body, or just ignorant. "You must be pretty tough if you aren't even complaining."

Mokuba blushed a little at the subtle complement. "Thank you miss, but I'm really not."

She quickly waved off the excuse, pulling out a small first aid kit. Where had that come from? "Please, anybody who can find the courage to stand up against three brainless, hulking gorillas like you did today, is one tough cookie in my book. You should be proud, Champ."

Despite himself, Mokuba couldn't help but smile.

After that, the raven-haired kid simply watched as the slightly gruff but nonetheless kind woman doctored up his injuries with almost practiced ease, cleaning the few scrapes he had and placing bandages on them immediately after. Soon enough, he was more or less fixed up to her liking, all previous evidence of his fight essentially erased. Well except the slight bruise on his cheek.

"Hmmm. There isn't much I can do about those bruises now. But when you get home, I recommend putting a wet teabag on it. It should help them heal a little faster. As for the one on your face..." she trailed off, eyes hinting at an amicable solution before digging around in one of her pockets for something. Seconds later, she pulled out a small, cylindrical tube the color of skin. "I think I've got a solution. Hold still."

He did as she asked, closing his eyes when prompted and patiently waiting for her to do...whatever it was that she was gonna do. He didn't have to wait long though as not more than as second later he felt something cold and wet like a wet paint brush against his discolored cheek. However, he did as he was told and stayed completely still as she put whatever that stuff was on his face, despite how odd and tickly it felt. Anything to keep his brother from knowing.

"There," he heard her finally say.

Opening his grayish-purple eyes, he looked up at her in confusion. The question must have shown in his eyes because she gave him a wry smile. "Here," she said simply, handing him the little tube. "It's called concealer. I don't really use it, but it should help cover up the bruise quite nicely. There are instructions on the side on how to properly apply it."

"You mean it's makeup. Like all that stuff girls use to make themselves more pretty?" he guessed shrewdly, eyes narrowed.

The young woman chuckled lowly, shrugging. "So I've been told. I wouldn't really know since I've never seen much use for that kind of stuff."

"So why do you have this concealer stuff then?" he shot back.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," she smirked, tapping his nose lightly before standing up. "Anyways I better get going. You gonna be alright getting home by yourself, Champ?"

Mokuba stood up too. "Yeah, thank you for your help miss..." he trailed off, realizing that he didn't even know his savior's name.

The white-haired woman's smile warmed. "Rose. Just call me Rose. And yourself, Champ?"

"Mokuba."

"Well, it was nice meeting you Mokuba," she said, starting to walk off, "but I better get going. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." Then with a small, two-fingered salute in his direction, she disappeared, leaving him smiling and wondering if he would see the mysterious girl again.

* * *

 **A/N:**

And there you have it folks! The fateful encounter that changed it all. I hope you lot enjoyed and will patiently wait for when I can get a second chapter out while I try to finish up my other stories. Rose and Seto aren't gonna meet for a while yet, but they will hear about each other from the ever-lovable Mokuba.

Please follow, favorite, check out my polls, and REVIEW!

And have a wonderful day!


	2. Lucky Fate

Hey all! Well, I just be short and say thank you to all who reviewed, favorited and followed myself and this story and/or my other stories as well. You guys rock.

Also, I'm sorry if anything or anyone seems OOC. I haven't watched Yu-Gi-Oh! in a little bit so I may need some refreshers. I'll try to get on it when I can.

Thirdly, did anyone figure out which card the last chapter's title was based off of? Well if you didn't it was actually a monster card called "Savior with Eyes of Blue" but I changed it to Amethyst instead to fit Rose obviously. Anyways, see if you can figure out the card this title is based off of eh? Hint: it's a trap card.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything of Yu-Gi-Oh!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Lucky Fate**

—Rose's PoV—

A couple days had passed since Rose's encounter with Mokuba. She wondered about the kid from time to time, but she was so busy with her own problems—such as setting up her mechanic's garage and unpacking—that she didn't have much time to think about him.

However, it was another such day when she was heading out for more engine parts that she ran into the sweet kid again. Well in this case, he literally did run into her. But that might have been because of the hulking guys in black suits chasing him.

* * *

—Mokuba's PoV—

Examining himself in the bathroom mirror, Mokuba was pleasantly surprised to find that his bruises from a couple days ago were fading nicely. Thanks to the advice that girl, Rose, had given him about putting wet teabags on them, the discolored patches of skin now had faded so much to the point that he had to look really close to find them. And aside from the grass-stains on his clothes that day, Seto thankfully hadn't noticed anything.

Now admittedly, Mokuba didn't like keeping things from his brother, of course, but it was for the best or so he told himself. So long as Seto didn't know, then he didn't have to ask. And if he didn't ask, Mokuba wouldn't have to lie to his brother. (Not that he would anyways; he loved his brother way too much to do that).

Putting on the rest of his clothes on, Mokuba grabbed his school-bag and headed out. His brother had left a couple minutes ago, but he trusted the kid to get to school by himself.

During his school hours, when his mind wasn't busy with the work, the raven-haired boy glanced around at his fellow students and remembered how Rose had stood up for him. None of the students had bothered him since, (though some did give him dirty looks on occasion). Even as he left the school grounds today, none of the bullies even dared go near him either, and that was mostly out of fear that his newfound protector would make good on her threats.

Of course, while that sense of fear may have stopped the bullies, it unfortunately did not retain a hold over other people who had not witnessed the incident, such as people who didn't go to school with him.

The incident happened just as he was walking home. The afternoon sun was still high in the sky, and Mokuba had stopped to adjust the straps on his bag when he caught sight of a suspicious-looking pair of men behind him. They both wore semi-expensive looking suits and dark sunglasses, like the ones you saw bodyguards wear in the movies and occasionally in real life. Anyways, they acted normal enough, walking at a casual pace and speaking in low tones, but something about them just did not sit right with him.

Not one to jump to conclusions though (thanks to his brother), the raven-haired kid carried on as if he hadn't seen the men, walking at a more sedate pace, turning a couple unnecessary corners, and glancing in nearby reflective surfaces to check if they were still following.

They were.

Inwardly, he groaned, before steeling himself and suddenly taking off in a run.

Mokuba was really starting to dislike being a Kaiba. Oh he didn't dislike the perks of safety that came with having a lot of money. (Though he never flaunted it like other people; he only really needed his brother and he was set for life). It was just the downsides that he hated.

Like now for instance: people trying to kidnap him so as to gain an edge over his older brother. While it didn't happen on an everyday or even weekly basis, Mokuba could now say that he was practiced enough with kidnapping attempts that giving his attempted kidnappers the slip was as easy as pie. Only, these guys were kinda more persistent than his usual pursuers.

Dashing through the streets, it was just Mokuba's luck that he couldn't find any crowds to lose the guys following him in. Normally, all it would take was a large crowd and a slight clothing adjustment to lose them in five seconds flat. But all he could now was run and hope to that he lost them by using his small body to his advantage. Then he could call his brother for help, and he would be safe. But that didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon either.

It was as he turned another corner that he quite literally crashed into something, or rather someone. Knocked backwards, Mokuba expected to crash back onto the hard cement behind him, but a cloth-covered hand shot out and caught his wrist before he could experience the hard (and no doubt bracing) impact.

"Careful, Champ. Even a tough kid like you can still crack his head open like an egg if you hit the pavement the wrong way," said a familiar female voice.

"Rose!" he exclaimed excitedly, glad to see the young woman. Focusing on her, the first thing he took in was her pretty purple eyes, just like last time. Her clothes were still fashioned in that well-loved and worn, but oddly clean, punk style, though he did notice a couple faded black stains on them. Her silver hair was still tucked up in that same blue-jean newsboy cap too as she righted him with a simple flick of her wrist.

"So where's the fire Champ?" she asked with a quirked silver brow.

"I—"

"There he is!"

Apprehensively, Mokuba tensed and turned to find that his pursuers had found him. He turned to leave, but Rose held out a hand to stop him. "Mokuba, will you please hold these for a moment?" she requested lightly, expression tight and eyes narrowed on the men approaching as she held out a plastic shopping bag to him.

Hesitantly, he obliged, hearing metallic clanking coming from inside the bag as he took it. He wondered faintly if he should run anyways because, really, what she was going to do against two hulking men who were almost twice her height and definitely a lot stronger looking?

Murmuring a thank you in his direction, those intelligent violet orbs were completely fixed on the men, and her posture and muscles tensed like a stray cat about to pounce on a bird. As soon as they were in close enough range though, the silver-haired woman struck with the swiftness of a viper and poise of a jungle cat. Fist landing solidly in the stomach of one of the men, Rose planted the tough, leather sole of her boot in the other guy's gut, before she swept them both off their feet.

Mokuba winced in sympathy when their heads bounced slightly against the unforgiving pavement, but he kept quiet, indigo-grey eyes tracking the girl's movement as she picked up a random rusted pipe from somewhere and whacked them both solidly on the back of the head when they tried to get up. The duo hit the ground again before you could say 'KO-ed'.

Throwing the pipe away, Rose dusted her hands off, inspecting her handiwork and checking both their pulses as casually as if she knocked out thugs twice her size on a regular basis.

"Dare I ask?" she probed dryly, glancing his way with those violet orbs of hers before she went about pulling some heavy-duty zip-ties from the pockets of her ripped jeans and using them to tie the men up. He hadn't the slightest clue as to why she had those on her; it was probably the same reason why she carried around make-up even if she didn't wear it.

Mokuba blinked a couple times before deciding to play it cool.

"Nah, probably not," he said with a slightly forced smile.

He liked Rose so far, and he didn't want to ruin their friendly relationship when he told her that he was one of the famous Kaiba brother's. She would probably start acting weird around him if he did. People always did when they found out.

The white-haired girl merely nodded with a slight hum, accepting the answer with ease as she inspected the men a little more closely. She seemed to be considering something as her lips twisted in a slight frown, and she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, inputting a couple things into it.

"There. The police should be here in a bit. I just put in an anonymous tip for two suspicious men harassing a bunch of school kids," she informed him, probably noticing the look on his face.

"But it's just me," he pointed out, confused.

Rose smiled. "I know, but it usually gets the police here faster," she admitted with a wink in his direction. There was this mischievous quality to her eyes that made the violet pools glitter.

Clapping her hands together, she then said with a smirk, "Now, let's see if we can find who these two lapdog's belong to, eh?"

Whipping out a black bandanna from somewhere else, the girl started searching the two men, pulling out their wallets and glancing at their I.D.'s. Usually, Mokuba would be a bit uncomfortable doing such a thing, but he was kinda curious; and Rose seemed safe enough.

Eventually, the girl snickered. "Sheesh and here I thought these guys were professionals. Guess I was wrong." She showed him the wallets, and the raven-haired kid found himself looking at a familiar insignia shaped like two C's on the inside of the men's wallets.

"That's the Cortez Cabal!" he exclaimed. They were an American company that had been partners for a time in a deal with KaibaCorp before his brother had taken over and stopped their manufacturing of weapon's. Obviously, they hadn't taken it all that well.

"Yep," she agreed, popping the 'p'. Her gaze shifted over to him. "You sure you aren't in any trouble with them kid?"

Mokuba froze. What was he going to say? "I—"

Rose chuckled. "Relax. I'm just kidding Champ. I won't pry if you don't want to talk about it." Tossing the wallets unceremoniously back over her shoulder at the unconscious thugs-for-hire so that they conked their owners in the head, she glanced at her watch, then up at the sun. "Well I hate to be such a drag, but I should get going. Dinner isn't going to make itself."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, I better get going too. My brother will start to worry if I'm not home soon. Thanks for the help Rose. You're a lifesaver."

"Anytime kid," she smiled, ruffling his hair a little. "Maybe I'll see you around again sometime. Hopefully under better circumstances though."

Mokuba blushed at that. "Sorry about that. Oh and here's your bag back." He handed her the clanking bag back, which she took with a nod.

"Thanks. See ya later Mokuba!" Then, with a final cheerful wave, the silver-haired girl disappeared, leaving him to smile thoughtfully to himself as he continued on his way home. Maybe he was just imagining it, but this seemed like the start of a pretty awesome friendship.

* * *

—Rose's PoV—

Kicking off her boots as she entered her home, Rose ignored the sight of over two dozen or so still-packed or half-opened boxes to her left as she walked down the stairs and headed for the kitchen, setting her bag of parts down in some random place along the way. Aside from part of her bedroom, the bathroom and almost the entirety of the garage, the kitchen was about the only area of her new home that was completely unpacked, organized and put away since she had moved to Domino City a couple weeks ago.

Still, she wasn't afraid to admit that the change was nice. After moving around so much, staying two to three months in one area at the very least before packing up and moving again, the chance to put down permanent roots once more was quite refreshing. And while she had admittedly enjoyed learning and seeing a great deal during her adventures over the years, Rose had been longing to settle down for a while now, though she had been hesitant at first. The last time she had stayed in one area permanently, she had been a child living with her parents.

The amethyst-eyed girl shook herself, yanking her thoughts from out of the past before they strayed down paths better left forgotten. She really needed to stop doing that, thinking back to the past. What was done was done and thinking about it wasn't going to improve or change anything. It was time to move on and start living in the present, not the past.

Sighing at herself and inhaling the scent of rosemary chicken and garlic, Rose set down the wooden spoon she had been using and scooped up the nearby TV remote, flipping on the TV. There wasn't much on so she flipped the channel and continued to do so until she found one featuring a particular article.

It was a news station which was currently airing an article about the most recent Duel Monsters tournament called Duelist Kingdom. She had heard about it while she had been travelling overseas in America but hadn't participated despite her love of Duel Monsters for various reasons. Anyways, apparently some kid named Yugi Muto had won the tournament with another teen by the name of Joey Wheeler taking second place.

And on the forefront of this news update was a picture of the host of the tournament himself, Maximillion Pegasus.

Rose glowered at the image of the smirking face on the television screen, violet eyes darkening to an almost sangria-like quality as she glared. She barely registered half of what the announcer on the television was saying about the man himself being unable to comment or something after the conclusion of the tournament, as she took in the long silvery hair, single visible tawny eye and slightly amused expression of the man staring back out at her. It was like he purposely trying to mock Rose in particular, or so it felt like that to her. She was almost half-surprised with herself when she managed to pick up the remote and simply turn the TV off before setting the device back down, when she was sorely tempted instead to chuck the remote at the screen right where Pegasus' smug smiling mug was.

Mood effectively ruined, Rose huffed and went back to fixing dinner for herself in silence, attacking the task with perhaps a little more force than necessary.

* * *

 **A/N:**

And there! Another chapter done and our dear Rose has run into Mokuba yet again. What a coincidence.

Also, Rose certainly doesn't seem to like Pegasus too much, eh? I wonder what got him on her shit list.

And before any of you ask: like I mentioned before, Seto and Rose won't meet for a bit. For now, it's just Rose and Mokuba becoming close.


	3. Meeting of Fate – Friends

Hello folks! Thank you for being patient!

College and job searching has been keeping me busy so I'm sorry about the extremely snail pace updates. I would try to promise to keep to a certain schedule…but we all know that genius doesn't like to be rushed.

Anyways, here's another chapter for you to enjoy. Admittedly, it isn't very long and is more of a connector between major events. Seriously, I cannot wait for one of the upcoming chapters because it is _so_ dramatic! And Kaiba isn't even in it! But hopefully you all can be patient, especially for the chapter when Kaiba does appear.

Anyways, did anyone guess the card the last chapter is based off of? If you guessed _Lucky_ _Chance_ , you were right! Now this one is little harder, but I'll give you a hint: it's a monster card of royalty and eight stars. Think you can guess her name? Good luck!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything of Yu-Gi-Oh!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Meeting of Fate – Friends**

—Unknown PoV—

"What do you mean you lost him?!" the man thundered, slamming his hands on his polished mahogany desk.

The two men standing before him in the well-furnished office flinched harshly at the loud sound, quivering lightly where they stood in the face of their boss's anger. One was sporting a broken nose, and the other had a bandage wrapped around his head as well as a bruise across his left cheek. Both of them were also sporting decently sized goose eggs on the back of their heads.

"How the hell do you lose a twelve-year-old kid?!

"We're sorry sir! We—," the first thug-for-hire stuttered.

"You're sorry? _You're sorry?!_ "

"There was this girl! She came out of nowhere!" thug-for-hire number two blurted, either ignoring or completely missing his comrades' panicked expression.

The man's expression hardened. "You mean to tell me," he hissed like a snake, tone sub-zero and dropping. "That you two not only lost Mokuba Kaiba but got your asses handed to you _by some little girl_?"

With little left to lose, the duo nodded vigorously, faces pale and sweating bullets, their expressions petrified from absolute terror.

"YOU INCOMPETENT IDIOTS!"

* * *

—Mokuba's PoV—

After the first two hectic encounters with the enigmatic mystery known as Rose Arknight, Mokuba for once to ran into her in a more harmless everyday sort of scenario. Well sort of.

We had been out walking around Domino City for a bit, heading for the arcade maybe, when he heard a familiar voice say casually, "Well this is a surprise."

Whipping around, he smiled in greeting upon seeing the girl. "Hey Rose!"

"What's up Champ?" the silver-haired girl said, adjusting her hat with her free hand. She asked teasingly, "Not throwing a party or playing tag today?"

He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment at the subtle reference to their last meetings. "No."

"Well that's good. So whatcha doin' out here?"

"Nothing really," he admitted falling into step beside her. "I was thinking of heading to the arcade, but—." His stomach suddenly growled, finishing his sentence for him and setting his lightly tanned features ablaze with blush.

Violet eyes dancing with mirth, Rose laughed lightly before saying, "Well, why don't you join me for lunch then since I'm already heading that way? My treat."

* * *

—3rd person PoV, Half an hour later—

"No way!"

"Yeah and he keeps trying to turn the key to get it to work. But it's raining you know and he cursing up a storm and everything because he keeps getting shocked by static each time he turns the key, and his truck wouldn't start," Rose explained, a huge grin in place and violet eyes laughing as she used her hands to illustrate her story between sandwich bites.

"And none of the guys who saw you working on his truck told him?" Mokuba marveled, an equally huge grin on his features. He took another small bite from his hamburger.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p' sound. The look on her face could only be described as entirely too impish as she grinned.

Mokuba laughed, nearly choking on his soda as he did so. "That's awesome! What happened afterwards? Did he figure it out or something?"

"No. Eventually I just told him to pop the hood and fixed it."

"And what did he do when he realized it was you?"

"Well, he tried to curse me out and ended up laughing, telling me quite plainly that I was a devil incarnate and wondering why he made friends with a crazy person like me," Rose informed him quite plainly, the innocent tone making the story all the more hilarious.

Mokuba laughed some more.

"What about you kid?" she asked, using a French fry—stolen from Mokuba's plate—to point at him. "Got any good stories from school?"

But he just shook his raven-colored head. "No, our teacher is pretty strict. She barely lets us out to recess and makes us do all these difficult projects." His face spoke of utter misery via students dying, or as it's also known as, studying.

Her expression turned sympathetic at that. "Awe that's no fun. What's your current project about?"

"She's making us do a project about real world jobs. We're supposed to be doing some sort of community service for a month or so, I guess to 'get a feel for applications of math, reading and science in everyday life jobs'," he told her, making bunny ears to emphasize his teacher's words, expression less than pleased.

Rose sipped her soda. "That's rough. So who are you going to shadow? Someone in your family?"

Mokuba made a face. "Well I was going to help my big brother since I sort of do that every day, but…" he trailed off.

"'But…'?" the table's female occupant prompted, sensing there was more to the story.

"Well, I don't know really. I feel like it's overused or something. Like I'm relying on my brother too much," he admitted in a low tone.

Absently, Rose wondered if she should say something but quickly shook it off. She had no place saying something about the kid's family when she barely knew him. So instead, she did her best to give him a comforting look as she said, "Well I hope things work out for you. I wish I could help, but I can't really say I have much experience with that sort of scenario."

"That's okay Rosie. Thanks anyways." He offered a smile to show there were no hard feelings.

The silver-haired girl cocked a brow in the boy's direction at the new nickname. But instead of keeping her mouth shut and letting the conversation die, Rose decided to take the chance to start teasing the kid a little, if only to keep the conversation from dying. " _Really_? Of all related nicknames for Rose in the entire world, you chose 'Rosie'?" She wore a teasing smirk, letting him know she was only joking.

The kid grinned and the conversation carried on from there, all the way to the time they both stepped out of the door of the diner together.

"Well I guess this is—," Rose cut herself off, catching sight of a familiar duo walking towards them from the direction Mokuba's back faced. "Mokuba, don't look now but our friends from our last encounter are heading our way. Six o'clock."

The kid tensed. "Really?"

"Yep, and they especially don't look too happy to see me of all people," she muttered back, eyes locked on both guys. That was an understatement. Both of them looked pissed when her eyes met theirs (even if she couldn't see behind their sunglasses), cracking knuckles and flexing muscles threateningly as they approached.

"What are we going to do?" the kid hissed. He looked torn between panicking and flat out bolting for cover.

Rose paused.

"I've got an idea. But it's crazy." The older girl caught his gaze and sent him a small smirk. "You willing to take a chance and follow my lead, Champ?"

Mokuba only hesitated for a second before returning the expression and giving her a firm nod. He knew he could trust her.

"Okay here's the plan…"

* * *

—Later—

Door swinging wide open, Mokuba helped Rose limp through the door as much as it was possible for him to do so.

"Thanks again for the help Champ. I don't know how I would have got home otherwise," Rose said.

"That's okay Rose. I'm glad I could help you out," he replied before a huge grin took the place of the sweet smile on his face. "I still can't believe you did that by the way. I mean letting them get close enough to get us then turning around at the last moment and charging them, yelling 'Psyche!' That was hilarious!"

He giggled uproariously, still supporting her.

"Well I still can't believe that we managed to lose them only for me to end up twisting my ankle just by stepping off of a curb," the girl with amethyst eyes pouted a little, wincing when she accidentally used her injured foot to try to walk.

"So did you just move here?" the kid asked, obviously noticing all the boxes lying about as they headed to the set of stairs on the left.

"Yeah," she admitted, making her way slowly down the steps with extreme caution. There was no need to add a broken neck to the mix. "Moved here less than a week before I first met you."

After barely making it down the steps that led down to the garage area, Mokuba then helped her over to one of the desk chairs before finally letting go, watching the older girl plop herself down without further ado and hiss a little in either relief or pain. However, as he finally turned around to take in his new surroundings, his eyes caught on an oddly familiar form in the corner of the garage.

"Whoa, is that a motorcycle?" he suddenly gasped in excitement as he took in the half-covered machine. From what he could see of the scarlet-colored machine, it looked nothing like the normal two-wheeler's he had seen aside from the overall shape. Nonetheless, it wicked from what he could see.

"Uh-huh," she said with a little grunt, grabbing an empty wastebasket from nearby, flipping it over, and proceeding to haul her newly injured leg onto the makeshift footstool for inspection.

"Wow. I never knew you had one, though I guess I should have known better with the way you dress."

Drawing back her pant leg a little, Rose felt around the inflamed and steadily swelling area, wincing once or twice. Admittedly, she was no medical expert, but nothing felt broken. So hopefully, the injury was only a minor sprain of some kind, and not a torn ligament or anything else as equally serious. "Oh yeah?" she panted, grunting a little more. "And what's that supposed to mean? 'The way I dress?'"

He knew she was only teasing him despite edge the pain gave her voice. "Rosie, you dress like some wannabe punk or something."

"Gee thanks," she snarked with candid dryness, finally drawing back from her examination until her spine hit the soft leather of the chair.

He laughed at that, noticing how her amethyst eyes twinkled a little in good humor.

"So what are you going to do, Rose?" he finally asked in a worried tone. Part of him felt like it was his fault. "What about your job? You can't go to work like this."

He seemed so genuinely concerned; Rose felt touched he cared so much. How long had it been since someone showed that kind of care for her general state of being? At least over or close a decade, give or take a couple years.

"Don't worry," she assured, leaning back in her seat, foot still elevated. She'd get ice later. "I'm going to be running an auto repair shop out of here, but not for a little while yet still."

"Neat. But I still feel bad you got hurt because of me."

"Hardly," she snorted wryly. "The only reason I got hurt was because of my own stupidity and mine alone. Don't even think of blaming yourself."

"But—"

"'But' nothing, Champ. Trust me kid, hang around me long enough and you'll find that I'm still pretty klutzy on my own without anyone's help needed."

"Fine."

He still didn't look exactly convinced as he said it though.

Knowing she needed to do something to get him to cheer up, Rose decided to change tactics. Maybe distracting him could work? But how and with what?

 _Maybe I could ask him_ that _?_ she thought to herself when an idea surfaced. _It might work. And I definitely could use the help now that my foot is injured_.

"Hey, Mokuba," she said. "You remember that project you were telling me about earlier for your school?"

"Yeah? What about it?" he retorted curiously.

"Well I was thinking," Rose began carefully, monitoring the kid's expression closely as she spoke. "Since my ankle is going to put me out of commission for a couple days, even after I heal somewhat, I'm still going to need a little help around here keeping things in order once I open up the garage."

"And?" What she was getting at here?

"Well, how would you feel about helping me around my mechanic's garage sometime, and maybe even help me tinker with my motorcycle a little and a couple of my other projects too if we get the chance?"

The kid gaped openly at her for a moment for suddenly coming back to himself and lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"That would be awesome Rose! Thank you!"

"Just be sure to get permission from your family too alright? Just so they know you're here."

"I will! I promise you won't regret this!"

* * *

 **A/N:**

Awe! Mokuba and Rose are getting closer! Hopefully, we'll see Kaiba in the next chapter though. I know you all are anxious to see him again. But just be aware that he and Rose aren't going to meet for a while yet still. That's for later.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and will be kind enough to leave a review and maybe a favorite or follow for myself and this story! Oh and please _check out my Polls_. They do change once in a blue moon or two and sometimes the results impact certain stories if I get enough feedback (like say 10-20 different voters).

Still, please leave a review and have a wonderful day!


End file.
